Items related to Book Of Unconformities, The: Speculations on Lost Time
Synopsis
A haunting exploration of loss and grief, endurance, and the absences that permeate the present. When anthropologist Hugh Raffles's two sisters died suddenly within weeks of one another, he reached for rocks as reassuringly solid objects, ways to make sense of these events through stories far larger than his own. His book is grounded in stories of specific stones and their intimate relationships to human activity - the seam of marble under Manhattan prized by its native Lenape people, mica from a Nazi concentration camp, petrified blubber on Svalbard's beaches left by the brutal 19th-century whaling industry - culminating in the heart-breaking story of six Inuit adventurers Robert Peary transported from Greenland to display alongside a huge iron-ore meteorite in 1890s New York. These are sombre stories; the various stones are witnesses to cultural and environmental destruction, the mass slaughter of animals, genocide. In often lyrical prose, with a rich assortment of compelling individual stories, and a haunting use of photographs that recalls W.G. Sebald, Raffles comes to the realisation that 'although my sisters' deaths were only minor horrors in the history of the world, for those closest to them even minor horrors transform all that follows, and that the world's great horrors, too, are composed of personal loss and unresolved grief.'
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About the Author
Hugh Raffles is the author of Insectopedia, which was a New York Times Notable Book and received the Orion Book Award and the Ludwik Fleck Prize of the Society for Social Studies of Science, and of In Amazonia: A Natural History which received the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing. His essays have appeared in Best American Essays, Granta, Orion, and The New York Times, and he is the recipient of the Whiting Award for nonfiction. He lives in New York City and is professor of anthropology at The New School.
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The Book of Unconformities
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. From the author of lnsectopedia, a powerful exploration of loss, grief, endurance, and the absences that permeate the present. Unconformities are gaps in the geological record, physical evidence of breaks in time. For Hugh Raffles, these holes in history are also fissures in feeling, knowledge, memory, and understanding. In this endlessly inventive, riveting book, Raffles enters these gaps, drawing together threads of geology, history, literature, philosophy, and ethnography to trace the intimate connections between personal loss and world historical events, and to reveal the force of absence at the core of contemporary life. Through deeply researched explorations of Neolithic stone circles, Icelandic lava, mica from a Nazi concentration camp, petrified whale blubber in Svalbard, the marble prized by Manhattan's Lenape, and a huge Greenlandic meteorite that arrived in New York City along with six Inuit adventurers in 1897, Raffles shows how unconformities unceasingly incite human imagination and investigation yet refuse to conform, heal, or disappear. A journey across eons and continents, The Book of Unconformities is also a journey through stone: this most solid, ancient, and enigmatic of materials, it turns out, is as lively, capricious, willful, and indifferent as time itself. Seller Inventory # CIN1891241737G
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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paperback. Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # mon0000738199
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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Condition: very_good. Gently read. May have name of previous ownership, or ex-library edition. Binding tight; spine straight and smooth, with no creasing; covers clean and crisp. Minimal signs of handling or shelving. 100% GUARANTEE! Shipped with delivery confirmation, if you're not satisfied with purchase please return item! Ships USPS Media Mail. Seller Inventory # OTV.1891241737.VG
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The Book of Unconformities
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. From the author of lnsectopedia, a powerful exploration of loss, grief, endurance, and the absences that permeate the present. Unconformities are gaps in the geological record, physical evidence of breaks in time. For Hugh Raffles, these holes in history are also fissures in feeling, knowledge, memory, and understanding. In this endlessly inventive, riveting book, Raffles enters these gaps, drawing together threads of geology, history, literature, philosophy, and ethnography to trace the intimate connections between personal loss and world historical events, and to reveal the force of absence at the core of contemporary life. Through deeply researched explorations of Neolithic stone circles, Icelandic lava, mica from a Nazi concentration camp, petrified whale blubber in Svalbard, the marble prized by Manhattan's Lenape, and a huge Greenlandic meteorite that arrived in New York City along with six Inuit adventurers in 1897, Raffles shows how unconformities unceasingly incite human imagination and investigation yet refuse to conform, heal, or disappear. A journey across eons and continents, The Book of Unconformities is also a journey through stone: this most solid, ancient, and enigmatic of materials, it turns out, is as lively, capricious, willful, and indifferent as time itself. Seller Inventory # CIN1891241737G
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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Condition: good. All pages and cover are intact. Dust jacket included if applicable, though it may be missing on hardcover editions. Spine and cover may show minor signs of wear including scuff marks, curls or bends to corners as well as cosmetic blemishes including stickers. Pages may contain limited notes or highlighting. "From the library of" labels may be present. Shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set packaging may be missing. Bundled media e.g., CDs, DVDs, access codes may not be included. Seller Inventory # COLV.1891241737.G
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
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The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time
Seller: HPB-Emerald, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
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paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_471310464